A method and apparatus for arthroscopic osteochondral autograft transplantation for repairing chondral defects is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,196, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. The transplantation procedure of the '196 patent involves using matching graft harvesters and recipient site harvesters, in the form of tubes with collared pins, to create and to transplant donor graft osteochondral cores into corresponding sized recipient sockets.
Although the above-described procedure works well for defects on the femoral condyle, defects on the tibial plateau and the patella cannot be so easily accessed from the front side, as required in the technique of the '196 patent. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus and method for accessing the recipient site from the backside. Moreover, it is important that the contour of the donor plug, harvested from the femur, match the contour of the recipient site.